It has long been known that absorbent articles such as conventional taped diapers, pull-on diapers, training pants, sanitary napkins, pantiliners, incontinence briefs, and the like, offer the benefit of receiving and containing urine and/or other bodily exudates. To effectively contain exudates, the articles should provide a snug fit around the waist and legs of a wearer. Absorbent articles are known to have a chassis comprising a topsheet, a backsheet, an absorbent core, and barrier and/or gasketing cuffs. Pull-on diapers typically include side panels which attach the front waist region to the back waist region at a side panel interface, thereby forming a waist opening and a pair of leg openings.
It is well known that the side panel interface can include a refastenable fastening system that releasably connects the front and back waist regions, thereby advantageously permitting versatile changing (e.g., the wearer can be changed in a standing or lying position). Among known releasable fastening systems, hook-and-loop (e.g., Velcro®) or adhesive tapes require alignment of an engaging surface with a landing surface, thus often resulting in misapplication and/or poor alignment of the elements being connected. Furthermore, hook-and-loop fasteners can become ineffective due to compression and contamination or can harm surrounding materials. With an adhesive system, improperly fastening the device can render the entire product unusable. For instance, in diaper applications, attempting to reposition a tape tab which has been improperly fastened can result in tearing the outer diaper cover. Furthermore, adhesive-based systems are prone to contamination-induced performance problems. Other systems, such as buttons, snaps, hooks and eyes, and ties are limited in that they only connect at discrete points.
Accordingly, a tab-and-slot fastening system was developed as described in U.S. Pat. No. 6,432,098 which issued to Mark J. Kline, et al. on Aug. 13, 2002. The tab and slot fastening system typically includes a tab member disposed at a first location on the diaper, and a slot member disposed at a second location on the diaper opposed to the first location. The slot member defines a slot that receives the tab member in order to connect the fastening system. Specifically, the tab member is passed through the slot and is subsequently pivoted such that a portion of the tab member engages an edge of the slot to prevent the tab member from passing back through the slot member.
Tab-and-slot fastening systems of this type have been widely accepted for their ability to provide for a user-friendly refastenable connection along a length or span rather than at discrete points on the diaper. Furthermore, tab-and-slot fastening devices conform to different shapes and thus accommodate the wearer in seated, standing, and lying positions and maintain a reliable connection while the wearer is active. Moreover, tab-and-slot fastening devices can be connected and disconnected in many different configurations, thus allowing, for instance, an infant's diaper to be changed regardless of whether the infant is lying on a changing table or standing.
However, if the tab-and-slot fastening system members are not sufficiently rigid prior to connecting the fastening system, the user may have difficulty ensuring that the tab member is unable to pass back through the slot member. In particular, if either fastener element deforms significantly during the fastening process, the two members will form shapes that do not readily mate together. On the other hand, if the fastening system substantially maintains its rigidity after the fastening system connection, the tab and slot members can press into the abdomen or other bodily area of the wearer and cause discomfort and/or skin marking and/or irritation.
What is therefore needed is a fastening system having a stiffness that changes from a first level suitable for reliable fastening to a reduced level that eliminates or reduces instances of wearer discomfort and/or skin marking and/or irritation during use.